


Past is Prologue

by stellarmeadow



Series: Heartbeat [2]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-06
Updated: 2014-08-06
Packaged: 2018-02-11 23:56:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2087835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarmeadow/pseuds/stellarmeadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve and Danny are trying to move beyond the revelations of Steve's past, but the past isn't quite done with them yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't resist revisiting this universe. It needed more. Huge thanks to smudgegirl and uxseven for the cheerleading and the help when things didn't quite work right. 
> 
> If you haven't read the first story in the series, [Can You Feel My Heart](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1223695), this story will make no sense. Read that first.

Steve tiptoed back into the room, toweling saltwater off his skin. He'd dropped his trunks at the washing machine, and was about as dry as he was going to get by the time he reached the bed. Danny's head was peeking out above the covers, at the edge of his own pillow, with his nose buried in Steve's. 

How anyone so compact (he'd never even dare think 'small' because he was pretty sure Danny could read his mind, and he didn't want to be sleeping on his own couch) could take up so much space, Steve didn't know. Nor did he really care--Danny could have almost the entire bed as long as he left just enough room for Steve to sleep next to him. 

Steve slid under the covers, wrapping an arm and leg around Danny and pulling him close. Danny stirred, rubbing his nose against Steve's shoulder. "'S cold." 

"You're under a blanket and a bedspread. In Hawaii." Steve kissed Danny on the head. "How can you be cold?"

"You," Danny clarified. "You're cold. And wet. You're a cold, wet, sea monster."

He pulled his head back just enough to look at Steve as he said it, the sleepy eyes, mussed up hair and smile taking Steve's breath away. He'd waited ninety years for this, only had a hint of it with Beth before it had been stolen, and even after a month he still woke up half afraid it was a dream and would be gone in the light of day.

But every day Danny was still there. 

Steve tightened his leg, pulling Danny's hips against his own. "I know what would warm me up."

"Seriously," Danny said, "who called you Smooth Dog with lines like that?"

"Your mouth may be complaining, Danno, but your body says otherwise."

Danny smiled, leaning in for a quick kiss. "Nothing that happens below the belt counts as higher thinking."

"Something down there certainly seems to be getting up."

Danny groaned. "Seriously, Smooth Dog was ironic, right?"

"Danny?"

"Mmm?"

"Shut up."

Steve leaned in for a kiss to make sure he did.

***

"Danny!" Steve yelled up the stairs. "We're gonna be late!"

Danny appeared on the landing, buttoning up his shirt as he jogged down the stairs. "And whose fault is that?" he asked, as he followed Steve out the door. 

"Yours," Steve said, locking the door behind him before heading to the car. 

Danny paused at the passenger side door of the Camaro. "Mine?" he said, watching Steve walk around to the driver's side. "How do you figure that one?"

Steve grinned at him over the top of the car. "It's your fault you're so hot, Danno."

Danny rolled his eyes, but Steve didn't miss the smile on his face as he ducked into the car. It disappeared as they pulled out of the drive, though, and Danny's attention stayed focused on the corner after they'd passed it.

"What?" Steve asked.

Danny turned to look at him. "Hm?"

"What's wrong?"

Danny shook his head. "Nothing, just thought I saw someone." He gave Steve a mock glare. "Must be seeing things due to lack of sleep."

"Like I said, it's your own fault you're so hot."

Sometimes Steve wondered if Danny got headaches from rolling his eyes so much. "Swing by Starbucks and I might think about forgiving you before bedtime tonight."

"You'd forgive me anyway," Steve said.

But he headed straight for Starbucks, just in case.

***

Steve was going over a case the Governor had suggested they look into when he heard Danny yelling in his office. While that wasn't necessarily unusual, he was usually yelling at Steve, and since Steve wasn't in there....

He got to Danny's door and saw Toast sitting at Danny's computer, Danny hovering over him like a hawk, mid-rant, arms flying. "--an aspirin. Or some Benadryl or something."

Steve choked back a laugh at the 'are you an idiot' look on Toast's face. "It's not like a cold, Jersey. You can't just give it a pill."

"Well give it something to make the virus go away."

Toast sighed. "I'm trying to fix it. Maybe if you'd stop hovering--"

"Maybe if you'd fix it I'd stop hovering."

"Maybe if you didn't click on attachments in emails I could be at home."

Steve recognized the look on Danny's face. That was a look that clearly said it was time for Steve to intervene. "Okay," Steve said, crossing the room to stand beside Danny. "Danny, maybe you could go get some lunch?"

Danny glared at him. "I'm not leaving my computer until he's done."

"I'll stay with the computer," Steve said. "Just go get some food, okay?"

Danny looked at Toast. "How long?"

Toast shrugged. "Hour? Maybe less? I know the virus, it's pretty straightforward. It just takes time to clean."

"Come on," Steve said, putting his arm around Danny's shoulder and leading him into the hall. "Go grab something to eat. It'll be fine when you get back."

Danny sighed. "Fine. But don't let him out of your sight."

"I won't. Grab me a sandwich?"

"Yeah. I'll be back in a few."

Steve watched him leave before going back into the office. "How did he get a virus?"

"It happens," Toast said with a shrug. "But it's a virus that, among other things, turns on your webcam." Toast looked up at Steve. "Hope you didn't do anything in here the last week or so that you didn't want recorded."

Steve thought back hurriedly, but any conversations they'd had at HQ that he'd rather not have recorded had probably been in his office. "Uh...when you're done here, can you check my computer?"

Toast's smirk was probably justified, but it was still annoying.

***

"Okay," Toast said, "this program takes a while to run, so we can go check your computer while it finishes."

Steve glanced at his watch, surprised to find it had been half an hour. They'd been talking about surfing and other random things and he hadn't noticed the time. He pulled out his phone, frowning. No missed calls, no texts from Danny.

It was probably nothing. The line at the deli could be a little long. But usually Danny would've at least texted by now, bitching about the line. 

Steve tapped Danny's contact icon and put the phone to his ear. It rang until the voicemail picked up. He could call Chin and get him to come in and track it, but he hated to do that when he and Lelani were having a picnic, particularly when he didn't really have any reason to think there was a problem. And Kono was with Adam. 

It was nothing. Danny would be pissed if Steve called Chin or Kono to the office. 

"Hey, Toast," Steve said, "can you track Danny's phone?"

"Software to track phone GPS locations is against the--"

"Toast."

"On it." 

Toast turned to his tablet and tapped away. Within a minute, he had a blinking red light on a map. Steve recognized the spot on the map, and it was nowhere near where Danny was supposed to be. "What building is there?" Steve asked, not remembering one.

"There isn't one. There's nothing on that stretch for a mile, at least."

So Danny's phone was on the side of the road, and Danny wasn't answering it, so he was either not with it, or he couldn't answer. Neither option boded well.

"See if you can figure out how the phone got there," Steve said as he called Chin.

***

"You're supposed to be _good_ at this, Toast," Steve growled, as he wore a path in front of his own desk. "The best you can do is 'I don't know?'"

"Dude, he doesn't have his phone, we have a half an hour window in downtown Honolulu where he disappeared, and since we know where his car is and he's not in it, we don't know what car we're looking for. You want me to trace a signal or something, I'm your guy, but I'm just another set of eyes for this."

Steve closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths before opening his eyes again to look through the window to see Kono and Chin huddled over the computer table. "Do what you can," he said to Toast, as he walked out. 

"Any luck?" he asked Chin and Kono, joining them at the computer table. 

"Nothing yet," Chin said. "But we've got the computer scanning every camera, so as soon as we--"

The table beeped, and Kono tapped on it. "Found footage of Danny, about a block from the restaurant," Kono said. She swiped the video up on the screen. "Looks like he got stopped by some guy," Kono said, as the grainy video played out on the overhead screen, "and then--what was that?"

Steve watched as Danny shook a little, then fell against the guy, who looked up into the camera for a second before turning away. Kono rewound and paused on his face. "That's the best shot we get. I'll run it through facial recognition, but it's kind of--"

"Don't bother," Steve said shortly, staring at the man's one black eyeball. "I know who it is."

"You can tell based on that?" Chin asked.

"Some people you don't forget," Steve said, pulling out his phone. "Get Toast out here," Steve said, pulling up Josef's number. "I need to make a call."

***

"Look, Mick--"

"Steve," Steve ground out, leaning against Danny's desk.

Josef's sigh was more implied than heard. "Steve, I know you cared about Danny, but--"

"Do not say that in the past tense."

"Fine, I know you care about him. But this is Lance."

"I don't need the lecture, Josef."

"Really? Because if you'd listened to the lecture last time, things might've gone differently."

Steve glanced out Danny's office window to see Chin and Kono showing Toast the video. "That was different. He didn't have Beth. This time he has Danny." He could tell from Josef's silence that Steve had him almost roped in. "Josef," Steve said, lowering his voice. "You remember what it was like, right after she died?"

"Okay," Josef said after a few seconds. "I'm heading for my plane right now."

"Thank you."

Steve put the phone in his pocket and pushed off Danny's desk. He picked up one of the pictures of Danny and Grace, Steve's favorite. He'd taken it with his phone a few weeks ago behind his house. They'd had a lazy day on the beach, just the three of them. Grace and Danny both had pink noses from the sun and wide smiles, and they looked so happy it made Steve's heart flip a little to look at it. 

He didn't want to ever have to tell Grace that anything had happened to Danny, and he sure as hell didn't want it to be his fault.

He put the picture down and went back to the bullpen, where Chin, Kono and Toast were waiting for him. "We managed to track the guy about a block," Chin said. "But he disappeared down an alley and that's the last we saw of him."

"It's okay," Steve said. "He'll contact us."

Chin and Kono exchanged looks. "Who is he?" Kono asked after a moment.

"His name is Lance," Steve said, folding his arms over his chest like that would somehow protect him. "And he's a vampire."

The look they exchanged this time clearly said they thought the situation had gotten to him. "Uh, Steve," Chin said slowly, "did you say a vampire?"

Steve nodded. "I know this sounds crazy."

"Nah, man," Toast said. "I know three vamps on Oahu alone."

Chin and Kono's heads whipped around in Toast's direction as fast as Steve's did. "You what?" Steve asked, sure he was either joking or using 'vamp' as a term for something else.

"Yeah, I mean, it's not like they go advertising it, but Devon's lived here for like a hundred years or something."

Steve stared at him. "You know _actual_ vampires?"

"What? You do, too, right? I mean you just said--"

"I know what I said, but...."A scary thought occurred to Steve. "You're not a vampire, are you?"

Toast laughed. "No way, man. Blood's not my idea of a great drug. But...you meet people who, um, need things."

Steve knew that tone, and realized Toast meant 'illegal' things. Vampires would need false identities after a while, and who better than an expert hacker to give them online trails? "Okay, so you know vampires." Great, one person convinced.

Of course, that left Chin and Kono, who were still looking at both Steve and Toast like they'd lost their minds. "I know it's hard to wrap your mind around it," Steve said, "but I'm serious. And the faster you accept it, the faster we can find Danny."

Kono and Chin exchanged another look. "It's not that we don't believe you," Kono started.

"But there's no such thing, right?" Steve nodded. "How about this, then? I was born in 1922. I was turned into a vampire in 1952. And until recently, I've had to take a cure every six months to stay human."

Kono's "You were a vampire?" mixed in with Toast's "There's a cure?" 

Steve answered both with one yes.

"So," Chin said, still not looking like he was entirely buying it, "in six months or so you'll turn back without a cure?"

Steve shook his head. "Not anymore. We found a cure that was permanent." Steve nodded at the screen, where Lance's picture was still frozen in place. "My guess is that's what Lance is here about."

"He wants the cure?" Kono asked.

"Well, he doesn't want me to have it." Steve gave a half shrug. "And he might need some by now, who knows? It's kind of complicated."

There was another look between Chin and Kono. "Sounds like we're going to need the whole story if we're going to help Danny," Chin said.

***

By the time Steve was done giving them the information they needed, in between searching for Danny, Josef was an hour out, and they still had no more leads on where Danny had vanished to from a busy Honolulu street. HPD had canvassed the area, but nobody had noticed anything. Or if they had, they weren't talking. 

Steve missed the days when he could call Catherine and redirect a satellite, but given his recent adventure in Afghanistan, he was pretty sure any contacts willing to help would get into too much trouble to risk it. Though if he reminded Walters about that little incident in Kabul--

His phone buzzed, and he looked at it almost absently at first, not recognizing the phone number. It took a second for it to register that it was a picture of Danny, tied to a chair. "Chin!" Steve all but threw the phone at him. "Can you trace that?"

Toast and Kono leaned over the phone as well. "That's an IP address," Toast said.

"What?" Steve asked.

"An IP address," Toast repeated, pointing at a number below the picture. "It's--it's the number version of a website. Like www.google.com, but with numbers."

"Can you trace it?"

Toast shrugged. "I can try, along with the picture, but I'm guessing whoever sent this wants you to go to it."

"Then go."

"I'll go," Chin said to Toast. "You trace."

Toast waited until Chin had the IP address before taking the phone over to his laptop. Chin pulled up a website with nothing but a black box on it and swiped it up onto the overhead. 

"I don't get it," Steve said. "What's the--"

The box flickered, and then came to life to show Danny in the same room as the picture, tied to the same chair. It was too dark to see any real details, though Steve thought he could make out a floral pattern of some kind on the walls, which could mean they were anywhere in Hawaii. 

"It's been a long time, St. John," a voice off camera said. Lance's voice, Steve recognized it instantly, and the knowledge made the last hope Steve had had of being wrong fade away. "Oh, I'm sorry, it's McGarrett now. How embarrassing."

Steve looked at Chin. "Can he hear me?" 

Chin studied the screen for a second, then clicked on something that looked like a microphone, and nodded at Steve.

"I don't know where Coraline is," Steve said, hoping that maybe that was all this was, that if Lance was looking for her, this could be over soon, hopefully without any more harm to Danny.

Lance's laugh wasn't encouraging. "I am fully aware of that," he said. "Just as I am fully aware of my sister's whereabouts."

That was also not encouraging. "Then I don't know what you want."

"Word gets around," Lance said, the camera bouncing just a little a moment before he appeared next to Danny. "My sister foolishly took what was left of the cure and gave it to you. I want it back."

"I gave you everything I had from Coraline the day you took her with you," Steve said.

"But that wasn't the last time it was taken from me."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "I think I more than paid for that," he said, trying not to sound like his teeth were trying to merge into each other his jaw was so tight. Because he'd paid with Beth's life, and that price was more than too high. 

"That is a matter of opinion. And that doesn't change what was taken after that."

Which didn't make any sense, but that wasn't really the important thing. "It doesn't matter either way," Steve said. "I don't have any cure to give you."

"That is unfortunate," Lance said, moving closer to Danny, and Steve's hands clenched into fists as Lance put a hand on Danny's shoulder. "What happened twenty years ago was such a shame. Such a waste. I would hate for history to repeat itself."

Chin muted the microphone. "You have to keep him talking," Chin said, nodding over to where Kono was now hovering over Toast at his laptop. "The longer he stays on, the better our chances of finding Danny."

Steve moved over beside Chin, hiding his face. "Can he see Toast is tracking?"

"No, the webcam isn't on, he can only hear you."

"Good." 

Steve nodded at Chin, who turned the microphone back on. "There's no need to hurt Detective Williams," Steve said. "I told you, I don't have any cure to give you."

Lance considered that for a moment. "Do you know I actually believe you don't have it?" He shook his head. "But I also know that you have taken it. And recently. Or you wouldn't be human." Lance leaned down, taking a long sniff of Danny's neck. "I can smell you on him, but it's human you."

Steve gripped the table, and he felt one of Chin's hands on his shoulder just long enough to calm him down. Going into a rage against Lance wasn't going to do Danny any good. "I took the last of it," Steve said. "So there's nothing left."

Lance cocked his head. "Interesting," he said. "True, but not true. I know there are rumors of a new batch of it. So even if you don't have it, I'm sure you can find it if you are properly motivated."

"You hurt him," Steve said, letting nothing but steel in his voice, "and you'll get nothing but a flamethrower."

Lance laughed. "I'm not going to hurt him," he said. "Well, not long term." Steve didn't like the sound of that, liked it even less when Lance said, "I'm going to give him a gift."

"What's that, a knife to cut his ropes and a ride home?"

That laugh was getting annoying. "Not quite," Lance said, as he ripped the tape off of Danny's mouth.

"Steven, if you give in to this guy, I will never forgive you."

"Danny, just stay quiet," Steve said.

Lance moved around behind Danny, tilting Danny's head to one side, and Steve wanted to jump through the screen, wanted to scream, to do something, anything. But all he could do was keep Lane talking while Toast traced the IP address. "I thought you were supposed to be this big bad guy," Steve said. "But you have to tie up someone just to take a little sip?"

"Oh, I'm going to take more than a sip," Lance said, his finger tracing its way down Danny's neck. "Last chance," Lance said. "Tell me where the cure is, or tell him goodbye."

Steve's "Lance, you hurt him, I swear I'll kill you!" mixed in with Danny's, "Do not give in to this asshole, Steven!"

Lance just laughed again. "These mortals," he said, shaking his head like a small child had just asked a silly question. "Always so quick to give up what are such short, inconsequential lives to begin with." He tilted his head. "Maybe I should help him understand what he is throwing away."

Steve stared in horror as Lance's fangs came out as he ducked his head. He bit into Danny's neck, and Danny's cry would haunt Steve for the rest of his life, whatever happened. He had caused this. This was his fault. Just like Beth, like John, like all the people he hadn't been able to save.

He watched as Danny weakened, unable to take his eyes off the screen, even though he knew preventing this was already too late. There was only one hope left now, and Steve was betting Danny's life that he had understood Lance's meaning correctly. 

Danny stopped moving, and Lance lifted his head, blood dripping down his chin. "What do you think, _Steven_? Should I let him make that noble sacrifice he was so quick to volunteer for?"

"I think the same thing I thought before," Steve said. "He dies, so do you. Permanently."

No threat, just a promise, and apparently the steel in Steve's voice came through the audio connection this time. "Hm. I suppose this would be far more motivating."

Steve watched as Lance bit his own wrist and held it over Danny's mouth until Danny started to drink. Steve couldn't look at anyone else in the room now, not after admitting that he'd done this himself, after knowing they all knew exactly what he'd been, and that he'd let this happen.

He didn't care at this point that it had happened. He only cared that a turned Danny was still an alive Danny, and there was still a cure that could fix it. 

He watched as Danny started the transformation, still remembering the way that felt, thankful for Danny's sake that the room was dark. Danny still flinched from what little light there was, even as he looked around like he wasn't quite sure what had happened yet.

Steve felt a little like a coward when he hoped he'd be spared the recognition in Danny's eyes when he realized. 

"Are you suitably motivated to find the cure now?" Lance asked.

"Give me Danny back and we'll talk."

"I think not." Lance stroked Danny's hair like he was a new pet, and Steve tamped down on his rage once more. "You have until sundown to find the cure. I will call you then to set up a meeting."

Lance moved suddenly, and the camera went dark. The website changed to nothing but a blank white screen, no sign of a video feed. Steve turned around to look at Toast. "Did you trace it?"

"Yeah," Toast said. "We got an address."

"Good," Steve said, heading for his office. "Gear up," he said over his shoulder. "I'm going to make a call, and then we go get Danny back."

***


	2. Chapter 2

"Are you completely out of your mind?"

Steve gripped the phone hard. "Josef, I don't have a choice. I have to go after him."

"Mick--Steve--whatever the fuck your name is, do you remember the last time you started to go after vampires who had the love of your life?"

Steve had been trying to not think about that exact thing. "I don't care."

"You are no good to him dead. You know that, right?"

"Josef--"

"No. Stay put. We made good time and we have clearance to land early. I'll be there in half an hour. You know you can't win alone, so don't do anything stupid. Okay?" When Steve didn't answer, Josef repeated, "Okay?"

"Okay."

***

"Thank God," were the first words out of Steve's mouth when Josef walked in, Jeff following close behind. Steve's relief at finally being able to actively do something about Danny was enhanced by his relief at not having to talk about his past anymore. At least not for the moment; he knew better than to think Chin and Kono would just leave it.

And he owed them honesty about it, owed them the stories. They'd more than earned them. He just didn't want to think about it right now, not when Danny....

Well, he didn't want to think too much about that, either. 

Steve made the introductions, finishing with, "And now can we go get Danny?" to Josef.

"We're coming," Kono said. 

Steve's quick and definitive. "No."

"We have every right--" Kono started, but Steve cut her off.

"You don't know what it's like to fight a vampire, Kono. You can't win."

Josef's laugh made Steve glare at him. "And you can?" Josef asked. "Exactly how does that work? You're human now, remember?"

"Believe me, I haven't forgotten." Steve looked at the others before nodding towards his office. "Let's talk in there."

Josef shook his head. "I already know what you're going to ask me, and Jeff has already said no."

"Josef--"

"Even if it works," Josef said, "and Jeff doesn't think it will, the cure isn't likely to work again. You become a vampire again, you likely stay one."

"I don't--"

"Yes, you do care. Why do you think we spent so much time finding that cure, asshole?"

Steve took a deep breath. He did care. But not more than he cared about saving Danny. "I will do whatever it takes to save him. You get that?"

Josef rolled his eyes. "You think I haven't learned a thing or two about you in sixty years?" He looked at Jeff. "Tell him."

"If someone tried to turn you there's a seventy-eight percent chance you'd end up in a coma or die," Jeff said. 

Steve looked at Josef, knew he was thinking about Sarah, forever young, forever living, and forever in a coma, thanks to Josef. He couldn't do that to Josef. And he was no good to Danny in a coma or dead. "Okay," Steve said. "Okay. So what do we do?"

"We have the cure," Josef said. "Lance wants the cure. He left you alone once when he got what he wanted."

"And then tried to kill me and did kill Beth the second time," Steve reminded him.

"Because he didn't get what he wanted." 

Steve hadn't had time to give him what he wanted. He would have, in a heartbeat, if he'd known what was coming. "You know Lance only wants a temporary cure," Steve said. "He doesn't want to be human forever, only long enough to suit his purposes."

"Nobody said he had to know this one was permanent," Josef said.

Steve blinked. "He doesn't know?"

"Would he be asking you for it if he did?"

Steve hadn't thought about at. He'd been too busy focusing on saving Danny to let his brain go any further. "So what happens to us when he finds out it's permanent?"

Josef shrugged. "Best case scenario? He's human by then. What difference does it make what he tries to do?"

"Worst case?"

"Nothing worse than the situation you're in right now."

All true. Steve took a shaky breath and let it out, focusing himself. "Okay."

"Do we know where Lance is holed up?" Josef asked.

Kono, who'd been watching the conversation silently with Chin and Toast, swiped a map up onto the overhead screens. "He's in a house in Waimanalo," she said. "Or at least that's where we traced the signal to."

"Except I know that house," Toast said. "A vampire lives there, but not this Lance guy. It's a guy named Reaver."

"Reaver?" Josef asked.

Toast shrugged. "That's what happens when you choose your own name when you're high?"

"Reaver it is," Josef said with a little smirk.

"Reaver's high a lot," Toast said, and for Toast to think it was a lot, that had to be a hell of a lot. "I can't believe he's part of a kidnapping plot--seems like too many brain cells for him."

"We think he might be working for Lance," Chin said. "Holding Danny at his place, maybe, in exchange for money or drugs."

Josef thought for a second before coming to the same conclusion Steve had half an hour ago. "Makes sense. Vampire-ready housing can't be easy to find, especially in Hawaii. And a low-brain druggie is easy fodder for Lance."

"That's what I thought," Steve said. "So let's go talk to Reaver."

"And if Lance is there?"

"Then we tell him that we have the cure stashed away and he gets it when Danny's free," Steve said. "You brought it, right?"

Josef nodded at the bag slung over Jeff's shoulder, which looked like an organ donor transplant cooler. "There's a couple of batches in there, " Josef said, "along with what we'd need to make more if we had to. My lab is still in place not far from here. Jeff's going to go there to store everything and wait."

"If Lance figures out where it is--"

"I've got security all over that place," Josef said.

"Still...." He turned to Chin and Kono. "Will you go with him? Make sure he's safe?"

Chin frowned. "If this is your way of trying to protect us--"

"That cure is Danny's only hope," Steve interrupted. "You're the only ones I trust to protect it."

"Then that's what we'll do," Kono said, giving him a small smile, one that Chin echoed.

"Mahalo." He jerked his head towards the door. "Take him now before we leave, and try not to be seen."

Chin gripped Steve's arm for a moment. "Be careful."

"You, too."

He let go, and Kono gave Steve a hug before they shepherded Jeff out of the room. 

Steve looked at Josef. "You ready?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No. So let's go."

***

"There's something bothering me," Steve said as he drove, feeling odd driving the Camaro with Josef in the passenger seat. It was like two different worlds that were never meant to meet, and it just underscored the situation.

"Other than the ancient vampire holding your newly-turned boyfriend hostage?"

Steve shot him a dark look. "You really wanna make jokes about this right now?"

"Sorry," Josef said. "Just trying to lighten the mood."

Steve ignored that. "Lance said something about Coraline stealing the cure. I thought at first he meant when she brought it to me in L.A., before he found her. But then he said something about what was taken after he killed Beth." Steve shook his head. "That doesn't make any sense."

The silence from the other side of the car was deafening. After a minute, Steve took a deep breath. "Tell me that doesn't make any sense to you, Josef."

"Okay, you have to understand that I didn't realize until just now that she'd stolen it. I wasn't even sure it came from her."

Steve counted to ten, gripping the steering wheel tightly. "What happened?"

"Not long after Beth died, another sample of the cure arrive by courier. Untraceable, no way of knowing where it came from, the trail ended at the courier, and trust me, I tried to find out. So we tested it to make sure it wasn't some kind of hoax, but it was the real cure. And we were running out of what you left with us, so we used it. It's the only reason we had enough to get to our breakthrough."

"And you didn't think to tell me this?"

"What good would it have done, huh?" Josef asked. "You were off on your self-imposed exile, punishing yourself for Beth's death by trying to become some kind of super human. Like you needed more things to worry about?"

Steve gripped the wheel even harder. "You should've told me."

"Why? You didn't need to worry about where it came from any more than you needed the possibly false hope that it would lead to a cure. You went off to Annapolis to forget Mick St. John and everything associated with him," Josef said. "What purpose would've been served by calling you up and saying 'Hey, I think your dead undead wife might've sent me some more of the cure?'"

He had a point. Steve knew he had a point. Didn't mean it still didn't sting. One more secret someone had kept from him 'for his own good.' 

He really hated that phrase. 

"Okay," he said, because he had to let it go, had to put all his focus on Danny if this was going to work. "Just...no more secrets, right?"

"Nope. All secrets are officially out."

Steve scoffed at the idea of Josef revealing all his secrets to anyone, but he could hear the sincerity in the tone enough to know that Josef would at least think twice before keeping anything secret that concerning Steve. That was all that mattered.

***

As they walked up to the front door of the house, Steve could tell Josef was sniffing out any potential vampires. Steve raised an eyebrow at him to avoid saying anything that might be overheard by a vamp with super hearing. 

Josef held up one finger. 

"Vamp?" Steve mouthed.

Josef nodded, and Steve frowned. If Danny was there, as a newly turned vamp he'd be obvious. Hardly any decay. Josef didn't seem to think that was what he'd smelled. Then again, maybe the vamp smell was masking Danny. Steve had had trouble with that in the past. 

No other way to find out but ask. Steve knocked, then, when there wasn't an answer, knocked again. After his third knock, Josef put his hand on Steve's arm, keeping him from knocking again. A few seconds later, Steve heard footsteps, then the door opened to reveal a guy Steve would've at least suspected was a drug addict if he hadn't known he was a vamp.

Then again, there wasn't a lot of difference. 

Steve pointed at his badge. "Five-0," he said. "We'd like a few words with you, Reaver."

Reaver blinked. "Who?" he said, and it was somehow refreshing to Steve to see an addict who was that bad at lying. 

"I could call you by your last three names," Steve said. "Or I could drag you out in broad daylight and question you in the sun for a while and see how that goes."

Reaver rolled his eyes and pulled the door back further. "Come in then."

Steve followed Josef into the house and closed the door. Reaver folded his arms over his chest. "What do you want?" he asked.

"Lance," Steve said.

"Who's Lance?"

Steve laughed. "How old are you?" Steve said. "Because you can't have lived all that long being that bad a liar."

"You know usually when people want something they're a lot nicer.'

"This says I don't have to be nice," Steve said, pointing at his badge. 

Reaver looked at Josef, who said, "I could rip your head off before you could realize I'd moved," like he was commenting on the weather.

"Okay, I mighta seen a Lance or something somewhere."

"We know he was here. We know he had a guest."

Reaver shook his head. "Didn't have a guest."

Steve glanced at Josef. "What did he have?" Steve asked. 

"A promise he would kill me if I told anyone."

"Don't worry," Josef said, "there won't be anything left of you to kill if you don't tell us."

Reaver blinked at him, then blinked at Steve. "Aren't you, like, a cop?"

"Something like that."

"He just threatened to kill me."

Steve shrugged. "I'm sworn to protect humans. What happens to vampires isn't really my area anymore."

Reaver stared at them until Josef moved closer, letting out a growl. "Okay!" Reaver said, holding his hands up. "Okay!" He took a step back, eyeing Josef warily. "This guy Lance, he paid me to reroute an internet signal. That's it. I don't know anything else."

"Where was the original signal coming from?"

Reaver shook his head. "I have an IP address." 

"Hand it over," Steve said, already dialing Toast's number.

***

"What do you smell?" Steve asked Josef, eyeing the house that, according to Toast, was the origin of the IP address Reaver had given them.

"Vampires," Josef said quietly. "There've been several, but I think they're gone. There's a faint smell of human, though."

"That might be Danny," Steve said, charging forward. 

Josef grabbed his arm, his grip painful. "And it might be a trap, too."

"Only one way to find out," Steve said. 

Josef sighed and let go. "I hate it when you're right."

They approached the house carefully. Steve didn't bother to knock. He threw the door open quickly and went in, clearing rooms one by one, Josef behind him, sniffing like a bloodhound. 

"Nothing," Steve said. "Where's the--"

A wooden stake came flying through the room, hitting Josef right in the chest. Steve didn't even see Josef hit the ground before everything went black.

***

Dark.

That was the first impression Steve had when he woke. Everything was dark, and it smelled of mold. Which could mean he was in a fair amount of houses in Hawaii, but it didn't feel like a house. The ground was too hard and dirty, shifting under him as he moved, and the smell was distinctly cave-like. 

His pillow moved with him, but only when he realized there was something on his head did he make a connection. 

He was lying in someone's lap, their hand on his head. 

"You know," Danny said, "all those times I tried to get you to sleep a little longer, and you just had to choose now to listen?"

Steve scrambled up to his knees, only to have the world go a little sideways. Strong hands caught him before he could pitch over though. Danny's hands. Steve couldn't see him, but he knew who it was now, and he reached out into the darkness, his hands finding Danny's shoulders, feeling their way up to his neck to find it whole and cool and with no pulse.

"Still alive, then?" Steve asked, forcing a lightness into his tone.

"Not exactly," Danny replied, matching Steve's tone, "but close enough."

"You will be, though," Steve said, laying one hand on Danny's cheek. "As soon as we get out of here. Everything is in place and waiting."

"I knew it would be." He could feel Danny's smile against his hand. 

Steve looked around, but he couldn't see anything. "Where are we?"

"Some kind of cave. I was out of it when they brought me here, but I've figured that much out. The entrance isn't too far, and there are a couple of guards out there at all times. I take it that Lance didn't hold up his end of the bargain when you brought him the cure?"

Steve dropped his hand, letting it rest in Danny's lap. "Never got the chance. We were following the internet trail from his little stunt with you and we got ambushed."

"That explains that, then."

"What?"

"The guards said something when they brought you in about hoping Kostan doing what he's told now so they could go home."

Relief coursed through Steve as he realized whoever had knocked him out and staked Josef hadn't killed Josef as well. "I'm guessing they told Josef to bring the cure in exchange for both of us," Steve said. 

"Or at least you."

"Doesn't matter. Josef knows better than to accept any deal where we don't both get out of here alive." 

He didn't need to see Danny to recognize the sound he made. "Danny," Steve said, feeling his way along Danny's body until he found Danny's hand and took it in his own. "Josef...he was there when Beth died. He knows what it would to me to lose you. Trust me, he's not going to let that happen."

After a few seconds, Danny said, "Okay." He squeezed Steve's hand a little. "As long as he knows it would be the same for me if I lost you."

It was as close as either of them had really come to putting any kind of words to whatever was between them. Steve was still searching for a response when Danny's hand squeezed his, almost bone-crushingly tight. 

"What's wrong?" Steve asked.

Danny's answer was slow in coming, as he loosened his grip just a little. "Hungry," he said. 

He didn't need to say more. Steve still remembered the first days after he was turned, how intense the hunger was, how it hurt as if you'd been starving for a month. "Here," Steve said, pulling off his outer shirt and holding out his wrist. "Drink."

Danny didn't move, and Steve hated that he couldn't see him in the darkness, because he couldn't tell what the problem was. "You have to feed, Danny. If you don't...." 

He didn't want to say the words. About a week after he'd become human, Steve, aided by some alcohol, had told Danny the whole story of being turned, and he'd been brutally honest about it. About how the hunger is almost impossible to control, whether you want to feed or not. And how the longer you wait, the harder it is to control.

"I...." Danny cleared his throat. "I don't know if I can stop."

"I'll stop you." 

Danny's laugh held no humor. "You're human. Even this weak I can tell how much strength I have."

"Your emotions are heightened," Steve said. "You're not going to hurt me. You couldn't." Danny didn't respond, and Steve moved closer, taking Danny's hand again. "You have to feed. And I'm the only source right now. It'll be fine."

"And if I go too far?"

"Then you can turn me and we can both be cured," Steve said, leaving out what Jeff had said about the chances of that working. There was still plenty of chance it would work, and either way Danny lived, and that was the important thing. 

"Okay," Danny said after a moment. He still didn't seem certain about it, but he took Steve's hand in one of his, the other gripping Steve's forearm, and lowered his mouth to meet Steve's wrist. The first prick of Danny's fangs piercing Steve's skin sent a familiar pleasure through Steve's veins, the sensation all wrong when associated with Danny, but still undeniably good.

Steve had counted off five seconds when Danny suddenly shoved him away. He heard Danny making odd gurgling sounds, and scrambled across the ground towards the noise until he got his hands on Danny's body. "Danny! What's wrong?"

Danny didn't answer, and Steve felt for a pulse before realizing the futility of that. "Danny!"

"Okay," Danny said, sounding a little strangled, but clearly trying to get across that he wasn't dying. "Need...minute...."

After a few harrowing seconds, he struggled to his knees, and Steve helped him over to the wall of the cave not taking his hands off until Danny was seated with his back to the wall. Steve sat next to him, pressing against him from shoulder to knee, wondering as he waited what the hell was going on. Was there something he didn't know about someone as old as Lance turning a vamp? But no, Coraline had been Lance's sister. And she'd turned Steve and it had been nothing like this.

"Can you talk now?" Steve asked quietly.

"Yeah. It's better. Just...that sucked." He felt Danny shift before he asked, "Is it always like that the first time?"

"No. I've never seen that before. What happened?"

"I don't know. One second it was fine, great, in fact. You weren't kidding about it being the greatest drug ever. The next second, it was like my insides were on fire, almost like the transformation, but in reverse, if that makes any sense."

It made too much sense. Steve had felt that as well. "That's what it felt like right before the cure killed me. Well, vamp me," Steve clarified. 

"The cure is in your blood," Danny said. "Maybe it would cure me?"

He'd love for it to be that easy. "I don't know how it works. Do you want to try it again"

Danny shuddered. "I don't want to go through that again."

Steve didn't blame him--he knew what it felt like. But he also knew that Danny needed to go through it at least once more. "I know. But...."

"But I'm going to have to." Danny reached for Steve's arm. "Let's try it again. If you're game?"

He'd do anything to save Danny. "Whenever you're ready."

Danny bit into Steve's arm again, but seconds later he shoved Steve away. This time Steve heard Danny retching, and Steve moved to his side. Danny was on his hands and knees, but as Steve put his arm around Danny's back, Danny straightened up to sit on his knees. 

"What happened?"

"I can't keep it down. It just came right back up."

Shit. "Okay. Come on, let's sit back down." 

He guided Danny back to the wall to sit, even though Danny could probably see better than Steve. "Any idea how long it is until sunrise?" Steve asked, taking his seat next to Danny again.

"A couple hours, maybe?" Danny shrugged. "You were out for a while."

"The guards, are they vampires?"

"Yeah, you're the only human I've smelled so far."

Which was both good and bad. "Well, then, just as well you're still a vampire, in case we need to fight our way out."

"Right, a new, weak vampire with no one to feed on, I can just kick all their asses."

He'd been hoping Danny wouldn't pick up on the bad side. "They can't stay out there the day. Maybe that'll be the chance the team needs to come get us."

"Unless we're in the forest. Because then they'll be protected from the sun and they can stay out there all day long."

Steve turned, putting his hand on the back of Danny's neck. "Hey. We're going to get out of here, and we're going to cure you. You know that, right?" When Danny didn't respond, Steve shook him a little. "Right?"

"Right."

He didn't sound entirely convinced, but it was better than nothing. "Okay, then we should try to get a little sleep until daylight. I think that's our best chance."

Danny didn't need to say anything; Steve already knew Danny was thinking he was crazy. But it had worked for them in the past, so Danny would just have to believe one more time. 

Putting his arm around Danny's shoulder, Steve leaned back against the wall, holding Danny close and closing his eyes.

***


	3. Chapter 3

At first, Steve wasn't sure what woke him. The cave was silent, and Danny hadn't moved in his arms. Then he realized that Danny was a little too still. "Danny?" Steve whispered, shaking him a little.

"Sleeping," was Danny's slurred response as he rested heavily on Steve's shoulder.

"Hey, come on, time for sleeping is over," Steve said. "Time to get up."

Danny didn't reply, so Steve moved out from beside him to face him. "Danny. Wake up." Steve put a hand on Danny's cheek and shook him again, not stopping until Danny's eyes blinked open.

"Wanna sleep," Danny murmured, eyes slipping closed again.

"No, no, no." Steve shook him again. "Can't sleep. Wake up. Come on."

He'd heard stories about vamps who hadn't fed, who'd just slipped into death after they'd been turned. They'd only been stories, but this was starting to look real, and Steve needed Danny to snap out of it before it got any worse. "Danny! Wake up!"

Danny's eyes closed, and Steve felt his stomach flip. "Hey!" he shouted towards the entrance of the cave. "We need help!" 

He figured Lance wouldn't want a dead hostage, so he was banking on a guard showing up. Sure enough, a man came to see what the problem was, flashlight tilted just enough that Steve could see his face. "He needs blood," Steve said. "He's dying."

"I thought he was already dead," the guy said, like it was no big deal. "Isn't that how it works?"

"Isn't that...don't you know?"

"Not yet," the guy said, with a gleam in his eye. "They promised if I did what they said, they'd show me."

Steve blinked. "You're human?"

"Duh. I'm standing out there in the sun, aren't I?"

"Look," Steve said, getting up and moving closer slowly, "they're not likely to show you how this works if one of your hostages is dead, now, are they?"

"What do they care?" 

"They care a lot," Steve said. "And I'm very sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"This." 

He hit the guy hard, and he went down just as hard. Steve dragged him over to Danny, using the flashlight to find a jagged rock and cut the guy's wrist. When he'd made the cut, he put the open wound up to Danny's lips. "Danny," he said. "Come on, drink."

Danny didn't move, and Steve shook him. "Drink, dammit! You need to drink!" He shook Danny again. "Come on, don't you dare leave me, dammit!"

Danny shifted the tiniest bit, and Steve put the flashlight up to see Danny's lips moving against the guy's wrist. After several seconds, Danny's hands came up to hold the guy's arm, and Steve dropped his own, watching as Danny became stronger as he drank.

Steve counted off the time in his head before he pulled the guy away from Danny, not without some difficulty. Part of him wanted to just let the guy die, but he couldn't. Maybe this would be the scare the guy needed to go straight. 

More importantly, he didn't want Danny to live with the knowledge of having drained someone dry. It wasn't a pleasant memory to have for the rest of your life.

"Steve?" 

Danny sounded stronger, and confused. "Yeah?"

"Who was that?"

"Turns out they needed a human guard for daylight after all." Steve said. "But I don't think we should wait around for anyone to come check up on him." He stood, offering a hand out to Danny. "Come on, let's go."

"Where? It's daylight."

"If there's one cave here, there have to be more," Steve said, searching the guy's pockets until he found a cell phone. "We'll hole up in one until the cavalry comes," he said, holding up the phone.

"Are you sure I'm not going to just catch fire when I step outside?" Danny asked.

"I promise," Steve said, taking Danny's hand. "Come on."

After a second, Danny fell into step behind him. "Lead the way."

*** 

Steve was right, they didn't have to go far to find another cave. Which was good, because Danny was fading fast in the filtered sunlight. Steve remembered the feeling, and he didn't want to prolong it any longer than he had to. He'd caused Danny enough suffering already. 

As soon as they were under cover, Steve pulled out the cell phone he'd stolen. "Fuck!" he hissed.

Danny was close by his side, looking at the phone. "What?"

"Lock screen."

"Really?" Danny pointed at the bottom corner of the phone. "Emergency call," he said. "I think this qualifies."

Which he should've known--it was standard. He just...he looked at Danny, who seemed far less rattled than Steve was. Even though Danny had just fed off a human for the first time, and was, in fact, suddenly and against his will, a vampire. 

Okay, McGarrett, call for help, then you can freak out. 

Steve called Kono, who answered on the second ring. "Kono--"

"Steve?"

"Yeah, it's me. Did Josef make it back?"

"Yeah, he's here with us. Hang on." He heard background noise and realized he was on speaker phone. "Where are you?" Kono asked.

"I'm not sure. Are you still at the lab?"

"No, after Josef came back without you we came back to HQ so we could try to find you. Do you have any idea where you are?"

Steve shifted the phone to his other hand, sneaking a look at Danny, who was leaning back against the cave wall, eyes closed. They'd stayed close enough to the entrance that there was some light--Steve's reasoning to Danny had been defense, but he'd also wanted to be able to keep an eye on Danny as well. "Best guess is somewhere around Ka'a'awa. I didn't get a great look at the surroundings, we were trying to get to another cave as fast as we could."

"Hang on." 

Steve watched Danny while he waited, comforted by the small motions he made as he rested. If he was moving, even a little, he was okay. For now. 

"Okay," Kono said after a moment, "I'm only getting an approximation right now from the towers you're using. If I'm going to pinpoint, I need you to go outside long enough for the satellite to pick up that phone's GPS. 

He didn't want to leave Danny, but Danny couldn't exactly go outside right now. "Okay, hold on." He put the phone on mute and knelt down beside Danny. "Hey," Steve said softly, reassured when Danny's eyes opened quickly, if not exactly alertly. "I'm gonna go right outside the cave so Kono can find our signal. I'll be right back."

Danny nodded. Steve touched his cheek for a second before he jumped up and ran for the entrance, unmuting the phone as he went. "Okay," he said to Kono, eyes scanning the horizon for any kind of threat. "Track it quick."

The sound of birds comforted him as he waited--if anyone was moving around nearby, there'd be a lot less bird chatter and a lot more silence. But he still wanted to get back in the cave and make sure Danny was okay.

After what seemed like forever, but the phone said was under a minute, Kono said, "Gotcha. You're right about Ka'a'awa, you're not that far from Kualoa, by the looks of things. Any chance you could get to the ranch?"

"Not with the shape Danny's in. We need to stay under cover as much as possible."

"Okay, I've got a lock on the GPS. We're on the way. Try to stay put, but if you have to move, make sure the GPS is on. Text me if you can if you move."

"Will do. Thanks."

He hung up and went back inside, the panic in his chest receding at the sight of Danny still where Steve had left him. "Hey," Steve said, sitting down beside him. "You okay?"

Danny nodded, eyes opening a little. "I'll live," he said, barking out a harsh laugh. "Just tired."

"I know, but I need you to stay awake a little longer, okay?"

Danny made an attempt at rolling his eyes. Nowhere near as good as he usually managed, but the attempt still made Steve smile. "You never let me sleep."

"We get home and I promise you can sleep until you decide on your own you're ready to get up, okay?"

"Okay."

"Just don't sleep now."

Danny hmphed, but he kept his eyes mostly open as Steve settled in closer. "Talk to me," Danny said. 

"About what?"

He shrugged. "Anything. Just keep me awake."

Steve thought for a moment before launching into a story about a mission from his Navy days that he knew would have even an under the weather Danny finding a way to rant in under a minute.

***

"How," Danny asked, "did you not get court martialled?"

Steve shrugged. "Our CO liked us?"

"Or something." Danny shifted, his head resting on Steve's shoulder. "What time is it?"

Steve checked the phone, something he'd been trying not to do to preserve the battery. "Just after ten." Which meant their team should be there any time now to rescue them. All they had to do was--

Danny sat up, his head whipping around towards the cave entrance. He pointed in that direction, then held up three fingers to Steve, any hope Steve had that it was their team killed by Danny making the 'kill' motion across his throat. 

"Human?" Steve mouthed. At Danny's nod, Steve relaxed a little. He had a fighting chance against three humans. 

Steve motioned for Danny to stay put, which led to what would have been an amusing mime-like argument, if Steve hadn't been pressed for time and Danny's life hadn't been in danger. Steve's charade motion indicating the sun, followed by dying, however, won the argument, and Danny subsided against the wall, but he didn't look happy about it.

Steve crept up to the edge of the cave, listening for the rustle of leaves. They were coming from the west and were close, and were not even remotely trying to hide their approach. So either they were stupid, or they were well-armed. 

Of course, one didn't negate the chance of the other. 

He saw the three of them come out from the trees and sighed. Well-armed it was. He just hoped that the stupid went with it. He grabbed the nearest rock and raised his arm, aiming and waiting for just the right moment to throw.

A helicopter distracted him, along with the three attackers. Before Steve could figure out what was going on, a firefight was underway, one the helicopter quickly won. Steve held onto the rock, peering around the opening to make sure it was his team.

Kono jumped out of the helicopter as it hovered, Chin hanging out of the door to make sure she was covered. She ran over to the cave and Steve met her at the opening. "Where's Danny?" she yelled.

"Inside. I'll get him."

"Hurry, those three had reinforcements on the way."

Steve ran inside and grabbed Danny, happy to see he could make his own way to the entrance, even if he was a little slow. He was even happier to see that Kono and Chin had brought cover for Danny in the helicopter, a large, light-blocking cover that Danny could pull completely over himself to avoid the sunlight. 

Steve sat under it with him, his hand firmly holding onto Danny's until they were safely on the ground again.

***

By the time they made it to the lab, it was past lunch time and Steve's stomach was reminding him it had been a long time since he'd eaten. He'd been so focused on Danny's safety he hadn't really noticed until they were on the helicopter, and he hadn't wanted to eat the power bar Kono had offered him in front of Danny. 

He'd eat when Danny was cured. 

Danny, of course, thought that was absurd. "Your stomach is so loud it's giving me a headache," he said as Jeff prepared the cure. 

"Well, then, all the more reason to get you back to human so I can eat."

"Speaking of which," Danny said, looking over at Jeff, who was hunched over a Bunsen burner, "what's with feeding off the cured vampire making me sick?"

Jeff looked up. "What?"

"I tried to feed off Steve," Danny explained, "and it made me sick. It was like it was trying to cure me, but it couldn't quite do it."

"Hm. Makes sense," Jeff said. "There has to be some residual cure in order to fight off any of the vampire virus that might be lurking. That's why it's not likely to work if you try to turn a cured vampire back into a vampire."

 _Shit._ "Speaking of which," Steve said hurriedly, "are you ready to cure this one?"

"Hang on," Danny said, and Steve knew that look Danny shot him. That was not a good look. "Rewind. What did you say about it not working if you try to turn someone who took the cure?"

"Yeah," Jeff said. "Like I told your friend, there's a 78% chance they'd end up dead or in a coma."

The look Danny gave him then was a lot longer and even worse. "You don't say," Danny said, the words directed at Jeff, even as Danny kept his eyes on Steve. "You told my friend here, did you?"

"We can talk about that later," Steve said. "Let's get you cured first, okay?" Because he refused to believe that the cure wouldn't work, but a tiny part of him that had had too many things go wrong in his life wouldn't be quieted until it was over and Danny was human again. 

If Danny was pissed at him and hadn't had a chance to yell about it, he'd fight that much harder to come back.

"Everything's ready," Jeff said, and Steve breathed a sigh of relief, even though it was a temporary reprieve, as Danny's face clearly told him. Jeff started over to them, then stopped. "Neither one of you is going to hit me this time, right?"

"No," Danny said. Steve echoed the response, though he couldn't really promise what he would do if--

No. There was no if. Danny would be fine. 

Jeff gave Danny the drink, and Steve felt a slight twinge of justification when Danny said, "Oh my God, you weren't kidding about the taste." 

"I told you."

"Yeah, but you're you, so it's never certain how much is just you bitching."

"I think you have us confused with each other."

Danny rolled his eyes before submitting to Jeff's examination. When Jeff handed Danny the knife and the second part of the cure, Danny held it out to Steve without hesitation.

Steve took it, barely noticing Jeff backing away. Steve held the knife over Danny's arm. "You'd better get through this quick," Steve said, masking his concern as best he could. "I'm starving."

"Don't worry," Danny said. "The sooner I get through it, the sooner we can have that little conversation about some information you forgot to give me last night."

One corner of Steve's mouth quirked up. "I'm looking forward to it," he said softly. "Ready?"

"Yeah."

Steve cut Danny's arm open, putting the cure onto the wound before it could heal. He watched with fascination as it worked, his body tense as he waited for the coming change. 

It didn't take long before Danny started shaking. Steve held him through it, counting seconds as Danny stilled to remind himself it wasn't nearly as long as it felt before Danny gasped and sat up, breaking free of Steve's hold. 

Danny looked around, giving Steve a broad smile as he realized what had happened. 

"Welcome back," Steve said.

"Feels good to be back."

"Really?"

Danny tilted his head. "Well, I feel like shit. But it still feels good."

Steve knew exactly what he meant. He moved away and let Jeff examine Danny, the last of his muscles relaxing as Jeff pronounced Danny a normal, healthy human.

"Wait, he's normal?" Steve said. "What'd you put in that cure?"

Danny flipped him off. "Do we need to do anything else here?" Danny asked Jeff. 

"Nope. You're done. Just try to avoid getting turned," Jeff said, and Steve could've groaned at the reminder. Like Danny needed it? "It wouldn't go well."

"Don't worry, I'm not likely to forget that anytime soon."

The dark look Danny gave Steve didn't bode well for the drive home. "Let's go," Steve said. 

***

Josef, Chin and Kono were waiting in the outer room. Once Chin and Kono had assured themselves that Danny was, in fact, fine, and human, and Steve and Danny had thanked Josef, Steve's stomach growled loud enough everyone could hear it.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Come on, we'll get some food on the way home."

"Hang on," Steve said. "I need to talk to Josef." 

He pulled Josef off to the side, conscious of the others trying to pretend like they weren't watching. "I need you to get in touch with Lance," he said. "Give him some of the cure and tell him we're done. He leaves me alone, I'll leave him alone."

"And if he doesn't agree?"

"Then we'll deal with it."

Josef stared at him for a long moment. "Okay," he said, and something in the way he said it made Steve wonder what other threats might go along with the cure that Steve would never know about.

"Thank you," Steve said, shaking Josef's hand.

"You're welcome." 

He managed to make it sound condescending and not, all at once, and Steve shook his head. 

"Come on," he said to Danny as they rejoined the others. "Let's get out of here. We'll check in tomorrow morning, okay?"

They said their goodbyes and headed to the nearest McDonalds for burgers--well-done, at Danny's fervent request. Steve insisted they eat at the restaurant, telling Danny he didn't know that he could drive all the way home without food. Danny's look said he knew better, but he didn't argue. 

The drive home was too quiet. Danny's silence would've worried Steve more if he hadn't remembered how he'd felt like he'd been hit by a truck after the cure. But Danny didn't sleep. He just stared out the window without a word.

It wasn't until they were inside the house, door locked behind them, standing in the middle of the living room, that Danny spoke. "So tell me," Danny said, the words deceptively calm, given his tone, "why it is that you would try to dupe me into killing you."

Steve was momentarily lost for words. He hadn't seen it like that at all, but now that he put himself in Danny's shoes...fuck. "Danny...I'm sorry."

"Sorry? That's all you've got? Sorry?"

"Are you going to tell me that you're rational when I'm hurt?"

"There's irrational, and then there's insane, Steve. And to deliberately ask me to do something that might kill you without telling me that fact is insane. In fact, it's so far beyond insane that they need a new word for it!"

Steve put his hands on Danny's shoulders. "I'm sorry, okay? I don't have a time machine, I can't give you anything more than an apology."

"You can promise me you'll never do something like that again."

"I...." He could say the words, but they wouldn't be true. "Danny...I don't know that I can promise that."

Danny stared at him for a long time. "I don't know whether to be mad at you for not being able to promise me or happy with you for not lying."

Which didn't say a lot for Danny's opinion of Steve at the moment. "Can you seriously tell me that you wouldn't risk your life to save me?"

"Of course I would, but I wouldn't take a stupid risk that put me in unnecessary danger on the slim chance it might save you."

"Really?" Steve raised an eyebrow. "So that wasn't you who pulled me out of the back of a truck in North Korea?"

"That's not the same thing!"

"No, you're right. Do you want to know what the odds were of you coming back from that mission, let alone bringing me with you?" Steve asked. Because he was well trained in analysis and he'd done the math more than once. "Seventeen percent. What I did had a twenty-two percent chance of success. From where I stand that makes your risk even more insane than mine."

Danny fumed silently for a few seconds. "It's still not the same thing."

"No, it's not. But I'd say they're about equal. I knew you wouldn't drain me too far, because I know you. You couldn't do that to me." Steve took Danny's hands. "It wasn't about risk. It was about trust. I trust you. In any form."

Danny took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay," he said.

"Okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

It was said with a hint of a smile, so Steve assumed he was more or less of the hook, though he didn't doubt he'd be hearing about it for months. Maybe longer. 

It was sad how much he was looking forward to that. 

"So how are you feeling?" Steve asked.

"Like I've been run over by Grace's entire softball team, screaming at the top of their lungs."

A rather accurate description, from Steve's memory of things. "What do you say we go get some sleep?"

"Maybe a shower first?" Danny said around a yawn. 

"Can you stay awake long enough?"

"I might need some help," Danny said, giving Steve a grin. "And you could use one, too, so maybe you can make sure I don't drown?"

"Come on," Steve said, leading Danny to the stairs. "I think I can manage that."

***

It was still dark out when Steve woke, the moon shining brightly in the windows. It took him a moment to realize what had woken him--there was no danger, and Danny was still lying safe in his arms. Then he realized that Danny was being far too intentionally still and quiet. 

Steve stretched against Danny's back, one hand placed firmly over Danny's heart, the steady beat just noticeable beneath Danny's skin. "Can't sleep?" Steve asked against Danny's neck.

"Could you?"

Danny knew the answer to that; he'd been the one to wake up with Steve when the situation had been reversed. "You didn't hurt anyone," Steve said, knowing it didn't help, even as he knew how much worse it would've been if he had done some of the things Steve had in the past. 

"Tell that to the guy who I emptied of half his blood."

"That guy was holding you hostage," Steve said. "Would it have been different if you'd shot him to death in an escape?"

Danny didn't answer, but he didn't have to. Steve knew the answer was yes. It would have been different. It shouldn't have been. But it would have.

When you shoot someone to death, you don't know what it's like to feel their life slowly draining away as their blood flows through your body.

Most days Steve managed to keep perspective about it. But that didn't change the fact that he knew it felt different. And perception was reality; if it felt different, it was different. 

"He'll recover," Steve said, "just in time to spend a nice stint in Halawa with the rest of his friends who were on their way to kill us."

"Still."

Steve tightened his arms around Danny, as if it could somehow fix things if he held on tight enough. "Well, if you're going to blame yourself, then you'll need to heap some of that on me," Steve said. "I brought all this on you, after all."

Danny shifted until he was facing Steve. "You didn't bring any of this on," he said. "Lance did."

"Exactly," Steve said, for all that he wasn't done feeling guilty for dragging Danny into this. "Just like he brought that guy into this, he turned you into a vampire, he's the reason you had to feed or die. Life or death is life or death, Danny."

He met Danny's eyes, willing him to get it, to start convincing himself of it, because for all that it felt different, and Steve understood that all too well, it wasn't. Not in the end. And you just had to talk yourself into that frame of mind. 

"I'll get there," Danny said after a moment. "It's just going to take some time."

"I know."

Danny's smile was faint, but it was real. "I know you do." He leaned in for a kiss. "Go back to sleep," Danny said. "I plan to be far more awake when the sun comes up, and I know a few ways you can try to make me forget about the past two days."

"I bet I know a few more," Steve said.

"I'm counting on it."

***

They were barely out of bed and out of the shower when Kono knocked at the door, Chin close behind, both bearing food. "We thought you could both use some food," Kono said, but Steve knew what they were both saying without words. That was the amazing thing about family--you took care of each other, and you didn't need to spell it out.

A knock on the door soon after their arrival had Steve smiling, unsurprised to open the door and find Josef on the other side. "Come in," Steve said, holding the door open and letting him inside. "I'm pretty sure the cook out won't be to your liking, food wise, but you're welcome to stay."

"Thanks, I'd love to," Josef said, sounding almost believable, "but Jeff's already on the plane waiting to go back to L.A."

"You spent a whole two nights in Hawaii," Steve said, teasing. "I'm sure you must be twitchy by now."

Josef shook his head, but Steve knew that smile. "I'll never get what you see in this place."

"No," Steve said, looking through to the back yard where his family stood, only Grace, who was due any time now, missing from the group. "You wouldn't."

"But it suits you," Josef said, putting his hand on Steve's shoulder. "Come to think of it, I think 'Steve' suits you as well."

"Thanks," Steve said. Because Josef had been family first, and this felt almost like some kind of unofficial handoff or something.

"Leaving so soon?" Danny asked, as he came into the room.

Josef smirked, raising an eyebrow at Steve as Danny effortlessly inserted himself between Josef and Steve, dislodging Josef's hand in the process. "The name isn't the only thing that suits you," Josef said.

"I agree," Steve said, giving Danny a blank look when he frowned. "What?"

"I'll find out later," Danny said, and Steve had no doubt he would.

Josef turned to Danny. "Nice to see you again," he said, shaking Danny's hand. "I'm glad everything turned out as it should."

"Thanks for your help." Danny's tone was sincere, as was the solid handshake he gave Josef in return. "We owe you."

"I still owe Steve," Josef said. "This was just balancing the scales a little." He turned to Steve. "I talked to Lance."

"And?" Steve asked.

Josef shrugged. "He said the terms were acceptable. He sent someone to my hotel for the cure this morning, and he says as long as you leave him alone, he'll do the same.

"Good. You think he meant it?"

"I hope so. But I'll keep an eye on him."

Steve knew Josef had a lot of eyes, and that they were very good at their jobs. "Let me know if I need to worry."

"Will do," he said. "Take care of yourselves."

"You, too," Steve said, walking him the few steps to the door and closing it behind him.

He turned to see Danny smiling at him with a look he couldn't quite place. "What?" Steve asked, moving back to stand next to Danny.

Danny shook his head. "Nothing." He grabbed Steve by the wrist and pulled him towards the beach. "Come on, I promised Grace we'd have a sandcastle foundation ready by the time she got here, and there's nothing yet."

He followed, letting Danny's flow of words wash over him like the ocean--soft, familiar and welcome, and always reminding him of home.

\---  
END

**Author's Note:**

> Want to learn more about me and my writing? Visit my page at <http://www.jamiemeadowswrites.com/>


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